CV-18 Fujian - Type 003 Aircraft Carrier News & Discussions

[LKJ86]

Via CCTV 7 and @沉默的山羊 from Weibo

 

[LKJ86]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1520067265823006726

 

[LKJ86]

Via @大包CG from Weibo

 

[nang2]

China launches third aircraft carrier

China launches third aircraft carrier-

english.news.cn

China launches third aircraft carrier​

Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2022-06-17 13:25:45

SHANGHAI, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China launched its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, in Shanghai on Friday. The carrier, named after Fujian Province, was completely designed and built by China.

The new carrier was put into the water at a launch ceremony that started at about 11 a.m.

Xu Qiliang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), presented a naming certificate to the navy unit receiving the carrier.

Approved by the CMC, the Fujian was given the hull number 18.

It is China's first domestically-made carrier that uses catapults. With a full-load displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes, the carrier is equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

The new carrier will conduct mooring tests and sea trials as scheduled.

What a beauty! And the name "Fujian" would give Taiwanese some room for imagination. Haha

 

[Abid123]

How many aircraft carriers is the PLA Navy planning?

 

[johncliu88]

How many aircraft carriers is the PLA Navy planning?

According to some sources, there will be 6 in total.

 

[GiantPanda]

According to some sources, there will be 6 in total.

Other sources say up to 10. The size of the training establishments and recruiting classes has grown huge in the last couple of years. They are creating a pipeline for a pretty large carrier corps.

 

[johncliu88]

Here is the point of view from US media: Navalnews.
China Launches First Aircraft Carrier Which Rivals U.S. Navy’s

 

[sheik]

Here is the point of view from US media: Navalnews.
China Launches First Aircraft Carrier Which Rivals U.S. Navy’s

Our dear Deino was mentioned and his words were quoted in the report.

 

[Wergeland]

Our dear Deino was mentioned and his words were quoted in the report.

Well Deino as far as a western guy, actually has pretty good overview of Chinese Millitary. @Deino Guten abend, your enthusiasm and updates are appreciated. Just wanna tell you that.

Those grey «window» like features are ventilation openings or some kind of radar panels? Hard to tell from a far.

 

[sheik]

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Now that Type 003 Has been launched, let the speculation on Type 004 begin (per my post 2 pages back, construction of Type 004 will probably fully start in 4 years and be completed by 2030)

My guess is another Type 003 to be built starting in 2 years, based on what the analyst in the following video states is his assessment of the PLAN’s mission issuing the carriers. A more optimized Type 003 (similar to how type 002 was an optimized type 001) may even be re-designated the Type 004.

P.S. It is possible China may not build an equal number of carriers to the US but limit itself to 6-7 Type 003 class full carriers and build a similar number of Type 076 Medium carriers to limit the costs and impact the loss of a carrier would cause to PLAN operations.

Type 076 could also presumably be built in larger numbers and by multiple shipyards then the sole shipyard that has built the Type 003. It could be a strategy similar to the US with the Escort carriers of WW2; built for warfighting and to guard convoys. This would be a similar mission to supporting PLAN marines in a landing on Taiwan.

Escort carrier - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If China builds or upgrades a second yard to make carriers, they could presumably be able to build these carriers in 4-6 years a piece with overlapping schedules, reaching the numbers above in only 15-20 years.

Also with enough carriers to cover the first island chain, China could afford to send its two older carriers (equipped with a mix of J-15 and J-35) to the Indian Ocean to protect their SLOCs; home ported out of Djibouti (which could be a boost for BRI, CPEC, and Pakistan as well as other Chinese friendly nations)

In China steel naval construction and naval engines is cheap. The limitation on carrier size and number will be the air wing, as aircraft manufacturing in China is more limited, doesn't have enough civilian market and is split between the PLAAF and PLAN.

I can envision a few more 003s and 004s leveraging best practices from civilian shipping and other ships that doesn't require any technological leaps: about 100k tons, fossil or fossil + small reactor steam power, IEP transmission, laser CIWS. Armament focused on jet fighters (J-15s for strike, J-35s for air superiority) with and AWACs for long range radar warning.

Then you can have maybe 1.5x - 2x that number in 076s, focused on drone warfare: well deck for launching UUVs and/or USVs with active sonar, ASM and torpedos, single EMALS catapult for propeller drones for maritime patrol and light strike, and a bunch of ASW helicopters.

 

[johncliu88]

How many tug boats were needed to pull out this giant monster? I see about 8 of them from pictures.

 

[LKJ86]

Via 李唐

 

[kuge]

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Via 李唐

how long time before those boxes are removed?